Sweet and Savory Bacon Twist recipe from The Detroit Free Press

I want to try this recipe, they look pretty yummy!

The Mother Lode!

From all indications Hershey had discontinued my favorite new discovery from last year, Chocolate - Almond Spread. But tonight when I stopped by Barkley Haggen after work I just happened to look on the shelf and saw the mother lode!! About 10 jars and I bought 5 of them (oh yeah).

I posted the recipe previously for the ice cream I make with it. I'm already thinking that I'm going to be a lot choosier about sharing it. I have that episode of Seinfeld in my head  (are you sponge - worthy?) Oh man,  all I can say is, this made my day!

A Beautiful Day for Some Cheese Biscuits!

Cheese Biscuits

What a beautiful mild day we had today, high around 56 degrees and no rain - though parts of the surrounding yard still have puddles from yesterday.

I made the whipping cream biscuits with grated Colby & Monterrey Jack cheese to go with my salad for lunch; I threw in some Garlic Herb Bread seasoning from Spice Hunter, and OMG they were so good, they didn't even really need butter! I love that blend, and I have to admit the bottle is really old and I should get a new one, but I hadn't seen it in the local stores and wasn't even sure they still made it until I went online today.

Last Saturday Don & Susan, Tina, Naomi and Jo and I met up at Cafe Akroteri downtown for Greek food. At some point in the conversation I think it was Jo that said she had heard a frog already this month, and couldn't believe it given that it's still January. Well yesterday and today I heard one too, so it makes me wonder if we are going to have an early spring. I would really love that, even though we haven't really had a hard winter, it would still be nice.

Chocolate Almond Ice Cream

Here is my follow up to the September 2nd post with my Vanilla Bean Ice Cream recipe.

The back-story here is that we (briefly) had a Vietnamese restaurant in a nearby shopping center that served Gelato. One day when I ordered it, I realized how expensive it was and was inspired to go online and find a recipe and see what made it so different from ice cream. I found this video from Giada De Laurentis and ended up modifying it slightly to basically combine her recipe and my vanilla bean.

In the video she talked about the cream to milk ratio having something to do with the difference, along with how much air is whipped into the two. 

When I went to Fred Meyer to look for Nutella, there was not a single jar on the shelf; they were in the early stages of a major renovation of the store, and were out of stock. But what I did find, was Hershey's Chocolate Almond spread, and a love affair was born ♥

So basically, to adapt my existing recipe, I use a 1/2 teaspoon of Vanilla Extract instead of the Vanilla bean - and 1/2 cup of the Hershey's Chocolate Almond spread. I also now put all of the 1/2 & 1/2 in the pan and cook it with the sugar and egg instead of setting half of it aside. I think that alteration is making my ice cream come out better. I also will add approximately 1/4 cup of chocolate shavings, either unsweetened or bittersweet, and this instantly became my favorite recipe. It is so smooth and the chocolate is lighter than normal chocolate ice cream and the nutty flavor of the almond is a great compliment to the chocolate. 

Chocolate Almond Ice Cream

Watch Out, She's Got A Whisk!

Mother Nature saved the downpour for the first day back after the Labor Day weekend, so now I have no excuse not to finally post about ice cream.

My journey to making my own ice cream started with my Uncle Ralph in Delaware Ohio. When I was a kid, going to see my Uncle Ralph & Aunt Eloise was such a treat in so many different ways, but literally one of them was that he made ice cream.

My brother Matt, Uncle Ralph & my sister Melissa

He had the old kind of ice cream maker that was a wood exterior with a ceramic crock that the batter went in. It was hand cranked where you used rock salt and ice, and a lot of elbow grease. He only ever made vanilla and would sometimes add cherries, but oh my gosh, it was the best flavor and you savored every spoonful.

Less than 10 years ago I bought a ice cream bowl attachment to go with my Kitchen Aid stand mixer and my ice cream making adventures began. I mailed my cousin Barb, and asked if she had her dad's ice cream recipe. The one that she sent me made a huge amount, and honestly did not come out like I remember it, so I started experimenting.

I went online and started looking at different recipes and comparing similarities in terms of ingredients and quantities and after just a few attempts I hit on what I consider my 'master' recipe that is now the base for several yummy variations. I also ended up giving away the Kitchen Aid attachment and got a Cuisinart Ice Cream maker which is so much easier to use I should have just spent my money on it in the first place. Mine is a 1 & 1/2 quart capacity, so my recipes are based on that.

Also I should state, that there are some pretty technical qualifications to Ice Cream. According to the FDA it must contain at least 10% milk fat. I like to use half and half, so mine is probably closer to ice milk than ice cream, but it has the texture and consistency that I like. So if you end up trying this, you could use whipping cream instead, or a combination if you want it creamier.

Vanilla Bean Ice Cream

1 quart Half & Half
1 cup sugar
pinch of salt
1 whole vanilla bean
3 egg yolks

• In a medium size bowl I whisk together one fourth (1/4 cup) of the sugar and the egg yolks and set aside. 
• In a medium size saucepan I whisk together the other 3/4 cup of sugar and half of the Half & Half with the salt. Slice the vanilla bean lengthwise and add to the pan, then whisk over medium heat until it starts to steam. Remove the bean and set aside for a moment.
• Pull the pan off the heat and ladle about a cup of the steamed milk into the eggs yolks and quickly whisk until smooth. Add that mixture back into the saucepan and continue whisking over medium heat until the batter thickens enough to coat the back of a metal spoon, being careful not to boil.
• Pull the pan off the heat and carefully scrape the vanilla bean contents into the batter, add the remaining Half & Half and chill for several hours or overnight and process in the ice cream maker according to directions (which for mine takes about 20 minutes).

So the first variation I made to this was to make Coffee ice cream, and so I did everything as above, but added 2 tablespoons of Medalia d'Oro Instant Espresso powder which I added to the warm batter before I pour in the rest of the chilled Half & Half. I do this with a flat whisk to avoid any lumping.

Another variation is to make it without the vanilla bean, but instead add 1 tablespoon of lemon extract. Yet another is to make it without the vanilla bean and add 1 tablespoon of peppermint extract, and then add chocolate shavings to make mint "chocolate-chip". The chocolate shavings are also a nice addition to the coffee.......

I'll post two more recipes in the near future. I'm signing off for now, but not without first posting my joke picture that I put together for the blog profile we did at work a year or so ago. Gotta love those phone apps!

Me, Boo and Julia (Is in there too)